Star Wars: The Spice Saga: The Raw Material
by fracadactyl
Summary: Sheev Palpatine had many plans before conquering the senate. One of which was an experimental form of spice that he used to create a weapon in the form of Jedi Padawan Hogui. Feeling isolated and forgotten among his peers, under the pressure of his Jedi Master, and envious of Anakin Skywalker of his connection to his mother; Hogui only form of comfort is the addicting spice.


A long time ago in a galaxy... blah, blah, blah... anyone who's even heard this or read the vertical scrolls knows all of this. This isn't the story of a hero who rose above during some war against threats in some galaxy nobody bothers to find. It's not even about the fall of an order.  
A baby is shown coughing.  
It's about me... a nobody who was just chewed up before he was even born and spit out by the hand who fed him.

My name is Hogui Bepyz; born to a couple I don't know anything about cuz I never knew them.  
A woman with her face obscured is holding the baby.  
I wasn't abandoned, my mother just ended up dead from some spice she was taking while I was still in her.  
A woman in a brown robe holds the baby.  
Coincidentally, I was found by a Jedi Master named Cefet Erixy. It turned out I had just enough of something called Midi-chlorians in my body to become a Jedi.  
The baby is set down surrounded by people.  
I was born sickly from whatever my mother took, spending day in and day out in therapies that would allow recovery for training by the time I could walk.

A young boy is shown through a series of panels in the same stance but in different areas and sometimes with different clothes.  
That was pretty much all it was; train, interact with the youngling clans, train, learn the philosophies, train, told don't go to the dark side, and train some more. I don't really remember most of those lessons, just the instinctive reflexes and basic knowledge.

The young Hogui takes a Khyber crystal, other fledglings and Master Yoda are in the background.  
By the time I was 9, I took the Gathering and got my first official Khyber Crystal.  
Hogui is telekinetically levitating pieces to create a very simple lightsaber.  
Hogui tries to turn the lightsaber on but it does not activate.  
Of course, finding a way to make it work was another hurdle.  
Yoda levitates a piece from his green hand.  
Master Yoda always said that the smallest things make the biggest outcomes.  
Hogui, retrofits the piece into the lightsaber.  
For me that meant so much more. Me, a nobody who could make the biggest outcome possible... What a pipe dream that turned out to be.

Hogui is with his clan in meditation.  
Then came the Initiate Trials, just more and more redundant tests.  
Hogui demonstrates lightsaber combat.  
Only difference was we now had real lightsabers.  
Hogui is with Cefet.  
After all was said and done, I became Cefet's Padawan.  
Cefet is working on documents while Hogui is doing chores.  
Cefet despite being a Jedi Knight was more of diplomat than a fighter.  
A holocron lies on a desk that Cefet is working on.  
She had her secrets, ones that seemed personal, especially since she had what it took to be a Jedi Master.  
The holocron levitates as Hoqui approaches.  
I wanted to look so badly.  
Hoqui wipes the area with a cloth.  
But I was just an apprentice, I had rules and expectations to follow.

Then, it all changed.  
Hoqui is in the Jedi Archives overhearing other Jedi speaking silently.  
News spread about a newcomer named Anakin Skywalker.  
In the halls, Hogui spots the young Anakin Skywalker with new Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
A former slave who won his freedom at the age I earned my first lightsaber. Unlike everybody else, he wasn't recruited from birth and had to earn his place during a dumb stunt.  
Cefet drags Hogui away.  
Needless to say, a lot of the Jedi weren't fond of him because he wasn't brought in the traditional way. Too many attachments and chance of going to the dark side.  
Hogui looks back.  
As for me, I didn't know what to think. He seemed to be just another youngling, if older anyway.

Hogui is out in the halls, doing chores.  
On the rare occasion, I'd find where Skywalker slept.  
Hoqui hears crying.  
It was during one of those, I found that Skywalker had something I never had: a connection to his mother.  
Hogui moves away with a melancholy look on his face.  
I didn't want that to bother me, but it did. A mother who loved him, Skywalker had to leave her behind still a slave. Me, I was just picked up because I could feel stuff. I don't even know what my mother wanted from me.

Hogui hears voices in his head.  
I started to remember what people said about me. How I wouldn't make it past my illness, but they said the future of the Jedi was at stake.  
Hogui's hand starts to shake during his training with Cefet.  
Only problem was, it didn't feel aimed at me. The only reason they were saving my life was to protect their reputation. Skywalker on the other hand had people who fought for him; his mother, his grandmaster, his master. Me, I was someone to be forgotten.  
Hogui is brought out of his trance by the flash of Cefet's lightsaber.  
I explained to Cefet about why I got distracted.  
Cefet looks upset, when sitting down.  
She didn't take it well; Cefet issued a formal complaint to the Jedi council that Skywalker was a nuisance with just his presence.  
Cefet's shadow is seen arguing with Obi-Wan's.  
Most days she just spent time arguing with Master Obi-Wan.

Hoqui is training alone in the temple grounds.  
With Cefet busy, I just spent time honing my lightsaber skills.  
A few other padawan arrive to train, Hoqui looks over to see them.  
Onur, Jumo?  
These two were my old youngling clan mates. For Jedi, they're the closest thing you have to family.  
The padawan looked at Hogui.  
I'm sorry, but do we know you?  
Hogui looks surprised.  
Of course, even family let's you down.  
Anakin walks into the training room.  
The other padawan look at Hogui and Skywalker. Then they leave.  
Anakin looks upset. Anakin looks at Hogui.  
I don't mind you being here.  
Anakin takes out his lightsaber.  
Wanna spar.  
I was about to take that offer until...  
Hogui, what did I say about going to the training hall without permission.  
I could tell from Cefet's tone that she just wanted me away from Skywalker.  
Coming master.  
Anakin looks disappointed as Hogui walks away.

After a few years, I was applying myself to become a Jedi Knight during the trials.  
An older Hogui is seen with other padawans.  
It was a series of more tests to make sure we were ready to become true Jedi.  
Hogui is seen with a group of Jedi, is alone in a dark room, reencounters the padawans who forgot him, and eventually the end of a tunnel.  
Things looked like they were going smoothly for a while. At least until the end.  
All of the padawans came out of the temple doors with a messenger shouting at the top of his lungs  
The trade federation has helped secede several of our allies from the republic! The separatists have declared war!  
The Padawans look terrified.  
The Separatist Crisis; while Jedi are meant to fight the good fight, no one's ever ready for a war.  
Everyone was so panicked, almost none of the Padawan including me managed to pass.

Cefet was more than upset when I reported back.  
Cefet is shouting at Hogui.  
How is that you of all people could show fear. I am aware that padawan are not trained for warfare, but Jedi must be ready to make the call.  
Master, it wasn't because of the Separatist movement that showed my fear; it was something worse. During that time alone in the temple, I felt isolation at it's absolute worse even after coming out.  
What, have you forgotten that isolation is one of the crucial tests of the trials?  
I know it is, but before anything happened, I've never felt so small and feeble. The other padawans who I was part of a clan only knew my name. Most of the time I only passed the trials because I needed to, not because I wanted to. Even forgiveness and protecting; virtues that are so highly regarded just means to an end. The worst part however...  
In a blackness behind Hoqui stands a large feminine figure.  
I could feel my own mother walking through me like I did not even exist.  
Need I remind you that you were raised by the Jedi Order? Your own mother was a failure of living being who gave her life to Spice! A Jedi is a paragon of justice and peace keeping to strive for, with no attachments to distract or give fear to lest they fall to the dark side. This is your chance to rise above it all.  
My chance or yours? I asked Master Obi-Wan why you didn't become a Jedi Master. You don't even like the Jedi!  
Only what the order is becoming. Looking at us now, especially with the Separatists, the Jedi are beginning to become more like a mercenary group of lowly bounty hunters. The only thing keeping us going is an idiotic legend about a chosen one to destroy what's left of the Sith.  
The one about Skywalk-  
Don't even say that name! Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan brought in a ticking time bomb that should never have been brought in. We have these traditions for a reason and Jinn payed for his defiance with his life! By the time that boy falls to the dark side, I will personally have Obi-Wan removed from the Order.  
I've heard about what Skywalker was going through, feeling threatened by the more conservative Jedi Knights. But how exactly was it his fault that Jedi don't cover all angles when looking for force-sensitive kids?  
Just being around him is bad enough, especially when that attachment he has to that slave wench of a mother forces my own apprentice to doubt himself.  
I wanted to say more; but how could I, a Padawan is supposed to obey a master at all times, even when they disagree.  
In the meantime, report to this area of the temple; I expect a full purge of fear and doubt for you to become a true Jedi. With the separatists acting up, I'm going to need all the help I can get.  
I left and did as I instructed, feeling more isolated than ever.

At the hidden chamber of the temple, I sat in meditation.  
In front of Hogui was a banner displaying the test of fear.  
Hogui could hear voices.  
Hogui opened his eyes to see everyone he knew speaking, walking, and vanishing.  
Hogui tried to reach out on them but everyone just passed through him.  
Son...?  
Hogui sees his mother but with a blankly looking face with pale skin, blank eyes with dark outlines, no nose, and a large gaping mouth.  
Would you help me get some spice?  
A cloud of dust falls on top of Hogui like an hourglass dropping sand.  
Hogui coughs in reaction.  
Hogui is covered head to toe in spice dust.  
Hogui feels a sensation as everything blacks out with an image of Anakin being the last thing he sees.  
Fear is always the hardest part of being a Jedi, it comes at you at every angle. My master was right about one thing regarding Skywalker, he brought a sense of fear to the Jedi order. Or at least, brought it to the surface.

During that dream I could feel something and I grasped for it with the force.  
Hogui wakes up gasping for air in a bright room.  
Waking up in an emergency room brought back some memories, good and bad. It was times like this I was brought to be treated for the sickness I had to deal with and the empty voices.  
Well that was quite an awakening.  
Beside Hogui was Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.  
Sheev Palpatine, anyone worth their weight in history knows this guy as the man who set everything in motion thanks to a lot of behind the scenes movements.  
Chancellor? Why are you here?  
Truthfully I came to visit Anakin, but I couldn't help but wonder about Padawan who passed out and hurt himself during a training period.  
Master Cefet is going to kill me I must've been out for too long.  
You shouldn't always expect the worst, but perhaps Cefet should.  
I didn't wanna bother asking about Cefet back then, I just knew somebody was getting too much attention.  
Chancellor we're alone, so I think I can ask this. Before I woke up I felt a presence I had to grasp. And, now that I can feel it better; it came from you.  
Palpatine had a lot of secrets, what politician didn't. Palpatine however was one of those who used sensitive information to increase his political position.  
I am not a Jedi...  
A small instrument was levitated and spun in place.  
But I do know the force. I had several reasons why I never let the Jedi know this though; not everyone can be Anakin Skywalker afterall.  
Not that it's doing him any good.  
Yes, much like the Galactic Republic, the Jedi are so dead-set in their ways. No one dares to break traditions and rules in place, even when they slow down or contradict each other. While I don't completely agree with the separatists, I can understand the need to break from overtly imposed bureaucracy.  
And Skywalker?  
Anakin is someone I have a lot of hope for. I don't need the force to feel a kindred spirit from him.  
Everybody talks like he's this big savior...  
As I got up I felt a stiffness in my leg.  
How does he even deal with slip ups, especially when the Jedi think lowly of you like that.  
Fear and desperation can give one strength. It certainly was that way for your mother.  
What?  
Your mother had essentially lost everything and was going to drag her unborn child down with her. Desperate she came and I gave her an offer with a risk that she nonetheless accepted. I supplied your mother with an experimental spice dubbed Midi-XQ3. It was a recreational spice that added and multiplied the midichlorians in one's body. Yes, the very microscopic lifeforms that made connections to the Cosmic Force to allow whoever they were bound to to connect to the personal Living Force. While untested, your mother wanted to try putting her life in the hands of the Jedi. Naturally there were side effects that eventually claimed her life. Instead all of the power went to you during your gestation. Thanks to your mother's sacrifice the Jedi order gained a new recruit and the Republic a means to heal thanks to further tests. Speaking of which I hope you don't mind that I added a newer less lethal variant of the Spice to you to help in your recovery. I have a feeling a stronger connection to the Cosmic Force will assist in your struggles.  
After Palpatine left, I felt like I had weight lifted off of me. My fears about my mother felt flipped over.  
Hoqui holds the syringe with the spice in his hand.  
I had a connection to her.

I went back to the Jedi temple and took the trial again, this time brought back to the time with me covered in spice but I came out of that pile as a baby. I became a Jedi Knight. But once again, I was just another soldier, not a fighter but an assistant and bodyguard to my master. I didn't complain though, heightened power doesn't mean you get respect. Life was pretty mundane but okay during the Clone Wars.  
That is until the wars started to end.  
Skywalker's apprentice Ahsoka Tano was framed for crimes, but it turned out the real culprit saw the same things Cefet and I saw as flaws in the Jedi Order during these times.  
Ahsoka was freed and she was even given a chance to be a full fledged Jedi Knight. But she declined despite her master having full faith in her. But I guess just one person can't equate to the betrayal of the entire Order.  
I could feel it in the Force, that day shook up a lot of people in the order. Especially Skywalker after he started to become a whiny brat.  
As for me, there was a question in the back of my head ever since then. Why didn't I try anything to change the Jedi Order? What about that small part that was I supposed to create to make the most significant changes? Why didn't I piggyback on Ahsoka's trial? All of that hard work, time, energy, and personal trials to overcome for this? Being victim to a system that's obviously wrong and doing nothing but ride my master's coattails!

During that night I couldn't sleep in my quarters. I ended up finding my syringe and injected the rest of the spice into me. I could feel the force flowing through me. I could see beyond everything. It felt like I was dreaming, I almost had the resolution everyone wanted in my grasp. At least until I came out of my trance. I wanted more, I needed more.  
I met up with Palpatine who assigned me a task on a mining colony that Cefet and I could help out in. The colony even had the materials needed to make more of the Spice.  
Hoqui walks away on the long shadow of Palpatine.  
Oh how stupid I was...


End file.
